bead v

1905 Med. World 23.61 MS, Alcohol can be diluted to such an extent that it will put out fire like water, instead of burning like good whiskey, and still it will “bead”, taste and look like good whiskey. 1949 AmSp 24.8 KY [Argot of the moonshiner], Bead. . . v. i. The tendency for liquor to form bubbles and hold them around the surface periphery. ‘This don’t bead so good.’ 1969 DARE Tape GA 72 , When it runs till the heavy part of the alcoholic content is in there, we call it—when it stops beadin’—we call it breakin’ at the worm [=condenser]. 2005 Williams Gratitude 17 wNC (as of 1940s), They was sump’m about the way it beaded up on the surface that showed how much alkyhaul it had in it.